Questions on clumping and keeping waves from looking 'unbrushed'

AlexaWaves

Hi guys! So I have mostly 2B hair with some 2C and 3As in some spots (more hair details in signature). I just got an amazing, short haircut (it's neck-length; above shoulders but below chin) .

The stylist said that my waves don't start from the roots, but they start from my ears and becomes more wavy the lower it gets. And it does look that way if I don't scrunch.

However, if I scrunch and plop my hair, my hair gets wavy from the roots. My mom doesn't like it when my hair gets wavy from the roots because they look... unbrushed (you know, like I don't do any effort to make my hair presentable). However, when I comb the crown of my hair, she likes it because it looks neater - it's only wavy at the bottom. And I do somewhat agree with her.

For example, some people have naturally curly hair from the roots, but they still look nice and neat, even with definition. My waves/curls look messy (they go on top of each other, left-right-up-down in the directions they're NOT supposed to go to) and all over the place after plopping if I don't comb the crown.

Anyways, that's my story. I have a few questions I'd like to ask.

1. How do I keep my waves from looking 'unbrushed'? What might be causing that look?
2. Another question is (that is somewhat unrelated but okay), do you guys prefer the Super Soaker method or Ice Queen method for clumping? So far, I've been doing the Ice Queen method, and I'm thinking about trying out Super Soaker or any other techniques for clumping...
3. Is styling products really necessary for hair? I can get nice hair with minimal frizz with only water, shampoo and conditioner... What do gel, mousse, cream, and those kinds of things do for the hair?

Thank you so much everyone !

Guide 65

That's exactly how my hair was when I first started going CG! So messy looking. What I do now is comb my hair and part it in the shower. As soon as I dunk my head under the shower stream it's going to look messy again, so I wait until I've put in my leave in conditioner, then comb, then add gel. I'll plop, or just wrap a towel around my head (plopping doesn't work for me), then when I take the towel off, I have clumps on the bottom, but the top just looks combed. So to get the waves going back up at the top, I'll do a few finger curls on each side of the part. Just a quick curl and release, no pins or anything. This gives me nicely behaved waves all the way to the top, without the messiness of hair going every which way.

I can't answer #2. I'm not sure what I do - I just add conditioner and water and scrunch scrunch scrunch.

Not everyone uses gel. I have to, otherwise I get hair that barely qualifies as wavy, let along curly. With gel, I get curls that (hopefully) last all day. Yesterday I even had a couple ringlets that lasted until bedtime. Gel gives you hold, clumping, definition, and prevents frizz. A curl activator gives me more curls. Combined, I get hair that's at least a 2C, maybe even moving into a 3. I don't use any creams, and mousse doesn't do much for me.